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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23614297">Charmed - I'm Sure</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainErica/pseuds/CaptainErica'>CaptainErica</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Dares and Disasters [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dare, F/M, Slow Build, hermione still can't say no to one</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 16:34:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,406</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23614297</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainErica/pseuds/CaptainErica</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>This time Hermione knows she can do it, she can make it, she can win this.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Dares and Disasters [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1642420</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Charmed - I'm Sure</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“If you’ll remember, please, this was your idea.” Hermione says, almost a huff, back straight, hair pulled back and held up with two quills and probably magic (she should cut it, she knows, but the only good hair dressers for her hair were in muggle London and she didn’t have the time). “So don’t blame me for this.” She adds, low.</p><p>Her small office feels even smaller, something that she thinks she’s okay with in a weird an undefinable way. Draco Malfoy is a presence, always.</p><p>“<em>My</em> idea?” He asks, bending forward a little as she hasn’t stood from behind her desk. “<em>Mine?</em>”</p><p>Hermione sighs, eyes closing like if she can’t see him for a moment everything will clear itself out. “Yes, Draco, you wanted a way for students who’d passed their OWLs to get practical experience so that they knew what they were getting into.” She says, eyes opening slowly, tiredly. “It’s not my fault that it was a good idea, nor that you feel inconvenienced.” She says, and this earns her a sharp look and the edge of a pout that disappears rather quickly.</p><p>“It’s not about me.” He says, and Hermione sees this for what it is; a change in tactic. “It’s about what they could see or experience, you know they’re not ready for what the Department deals with.”</p><p>Hermione just raises an eyebrow, listening to him work up this reasoning. “Uh <em>huh</em>, and the fact that all of them were present at the final battle at Hogwarts despite being 2<sup>nd</sup> and 3<sup>rd</sup> years…?” She says, an eyebrow raised, “They’ve seen a lot, I don’t think watching you make the same potion 14 times in a row will do anything other than bore them to death.” She says, shaking her head, clearly amused now.</p><p>He huffs, straightening, eyes running over her as he rights himself. “That’s not <em>all</em> I do.”</p><p>“Ah, trust you to be offended by that. You’re an Unspeakable, Draco, I’ve no <em>idea</em> what you do, and that’s the point.” She sighs and shakes her head. “They’ll be gone completely in a week, and I’m pretty sure they were only meant to be in your department for an hour this morning.” She says, reaching for a stack of folders on the corner of her desk, flipping through as she speaks. “Yes, you won’t even see them again so long as you stay out of the Atrium until your day is done.”</p><p>His nose twitches, she notes, like he wants to argue but doesn’t have anything to say.</p><p>“See, you’ll be ok.” She says, giving him a bright smile, “Now leave, my office is meant for working.”</p><p>Draco frowns at her, but it’s something he does a lot so she doesn’t take it to heart. “Always trying to get rid of me, Granger.” He says, so she gives him her best flat look in the hopes that it will convince him to go and not to be annoying. He grins, which she isn’t sure is a win or a lose as it makes her stomach flip.</p><p>And then he’s gone.</p><p>She sighs to herself and then shakes her head; maybe she could talk to the secretary about having her door spelled to not allow visitors. She sighs again and admits she won’t do that: Draco and Harry were the only people who saw fit to bother her here. She could deal with it because it isn’t like Draco came to bother her all that often.</p><p>The Burrow is quiet around them as Ginny and Hermione sit across from each other with their after-dinner drinks. Hermione, after going over her encounter with Draco on Friday morning, finds herself discussing love; two extremely different conversations that are completely unrelated. Obviously.</p><p>“You wouldn’t.” Ginny says, clearly extremely amused. “I mean, you couldn’t possibly.”</p><p>Hermione frowns at her from over top her drink; this is the type of situation that leads to her making bad decisions wrapped in logical packages. This is the type of talking that ends with her sitting on a grave with a potion bubbling before her.</p><p>“Don’t goad her, Gin, bad for business if she gets it before us.” George says, boisterous, landing both hands on the end of the table at the Burrow. “Besides, I’ve tried, can’t make it work.” He says, winking at Hermione a little exaggeratedly.</p><p>She knows, <em>knows</em> that George is teasing. She knows he came over here only to push her further, no matter what he’d initially said to Ginny. “No one can.” She says, decides on. She can hear herself say it and also hear how it doesn’t change the fact that she’s already planning to go to the library after work the next day. “It’s just not possible to create that kind of love potion.”</p><p>“No matter how much we want it.” Ginny says, raising her glass, “To having to find the right man the old-fashioned, too hard way.” She says, mockingly, grinning. George raises his own glass, grinning and bright, and Hermione follows suit.</p><p>She’s absolutely <em>not</em> going to work on making a potion that can lead you to your perfect match. It would obviously have to be a charm.</p><p>~</p><p>The ground around Hermione is scattered with parchment and books. There is a quill tucked into the messy bun she’s sporting, ink only not dripping into her hair because of the ‘no smudge’ charm on the nib. This, of course, is how Draco Malfoy finds her.</p><p>“What on earth, Granger?” He asks, pointed face pulled into a look that is a mix between confusion, annoyance, and possibly interest though she doesn’t really think about it too hard; she doesn’t ever want to be thought of as <em>staring</em> when she looks at him.</p><p>She huffs out a sigh, his appearance in the room having rather effectively thrown her focus. “I’m busy, clearly.” She says, though his question hadn’t <em>really</em> been a question. “Do you need something?” She asks, looking up at him again. She can <em>this</em> time because she’s annoyed and it shows on her face.</p><p>Draco’s eyes wander the room, then slowly over her, taking it all in before pausing on her face. She <em>knows</em> that she’s some ink on her cheek, she must have with the look he’s giving her. “Busy doing what, Granger? It’s the weekend, if you’ve forgotten, why are you here?” He looks back toward the door he had come through, seeming almost impatient.</p><p>“I’m researching.” She says, a little stiff. “This is a library, I’m quite allowed, especially on the weekend.” She shouldn’t be explaining herself to him like this, but she can’t quite help herself. He draws a lot from her that she otherwise wouldn’t give and it’s quite infuriating at times.</p><p>Draco looks at her, a look that says something about him maybe finding her just as infuriating as she finds him. When he looks at her like that, which he does more and more often of late, she wonders why he seeks her out as often as he does. “I’ll assume this isn’t for work, then.” He says, almost haughty.</p><p>She cannot fathom why he finds her being here so annoying, unless he had planned to use this room – “Is there something you are needing, or can I get back to my research?” She asks, going for testy in the soft hope he might leave her alone… or help if his mood isn’t too sour.</p><p>Draco’s eyes run over the open tomes littering the floor around her, and then he sighs and steps a little closer. “A break.” He says, with no explanation before his fingers are twitching up his robes a touch so he can lower himself to the floor across from her. “Like I would expect most people would want on the weekend, but I’m forever proven wrong when you’re concerned.”</p><p>She glowers at him, not sure if that’s a compliment or not and also unsure if she should just allow herself to take it as such; one can only be considered different so often before it stops being easy to consider a good thing. “This <em>is</em> a break.” She says, almost defensive, but he seems more relaxed than when he had come into the room.</p><p>“Yes, yes, stacks upon stacks of books, on the <em>floor</em> no less. Have another quill or will I have to...?” He responds, making her roll her eyes and pull the one from her hair out with a bit more aggression than necessary to hand it to him as his eyes travel over the scattered pieces of parchment with her notes across them. “Ah, good, <em>someone</em> will have to make sense of your scribbles.” He says, as if her handwriting weren’t perfectly legible.</p><p>As if she did not normally manage all of this just fine on her own. He’s been weirdly insistent upon providing help recently, though, if she really thinks about it.</p><p>She shakes her head and gives him a softly annoyed look, not bending to the want to make a comment she shouldn’t: he wasn’t actually being terrible. “Thank you. All of the important notes are just <em>there.</em>” She says, waving her hand toward them and making them gather themselves in some type of order for him.</p><p>It’s quiet in the room aside from the shuffling of the papers moving toward Draco. Hermione pulls in a breath, rolls her shoulders, and looks back down at the book in her lap. It’s hard to get back into it, but she forces herself to focus on what she had been writing before he had interrupted her.</p><p>“Granger are you, are you trying to create a <em>love</em> spell?” Draco’s nasally voice cuts through her returning concentration and she blinks.</p><p>“You’ve not been reading long enough to judge, so watch your tone.” She says without looking up, though she’s definitely not reading any longer. It <em>looks</em> like she is, though, so eventually Draco shifts and returns to shuffling through her notes.</p><p>She sets this book aside after a couple of minutes of fake reading, feeling like she needs to poke at Draco a little. He is still reading over her notes, it seems, and he hasn’t said anything after that initial question. This is unlike him, to let her get away with just telling him to be quiet like that, so now she needs to know what it is he is thinking right now.</p><p>She should just try to keep reading instead of picking at him, but…</p><p>“Let me see what you’ve done to them.” She says, a prissy edge to her tone as she sits up a little and holds out her hand toward him.</p><p>Draco looks up at her, brow slowly unfurrowing. She’s a little pleased to see he’s been so focused, but she keeps that from her face. “What I’ve <em>done</em>?” He asks, almost incredulous. “I’ve barely even begun to make sense of what you’re trying to accomplish here.” He says, leveling her with a look that tells her very little about what he actually thinks.</p><p>“You’ve had my notes for at least 20 minutes, it can’t be that hard to figure out.” She says, though it likely truly is; her notes are a mish mash of everything she had read that morning, so finding a common thread when she had not provided any information is absolutely difficult.</p><p>The look on Draco’s face goes a touch more incredulous, like he’s okay with feeling that way now. “That kind of talk might work on your less <em>gifted</em> associates, but I can assure you that if there was anything resembling a goal outlined within these pages, I’d have found it by now.” He says, a little flat but it’s clearly more for the way it will annoy her than anything else. He would have left already if he didn’t find this interesting.</p><p>Her lips purse though she knows it’s his intention to annoy and she so hates giving him what he wants right away. “It’s, oh Ginny and George told me I wouldn’t be able to make a potion that could help you find your soulmate.” She says with a gush of a sigh. “They’re right, of course, a charm would be much more realistic.” She adds, and it’s clear that she had known that from the get go.</p><p>Draco watches her a second, the incredulity having disappeared as she explained and been replaced by an almost morbid fascination. “You truly cannot refuse a dare, can you Granger?” He asks, and she feels her cheeks start to heat at the way he’s looking at her as he says it. He shakes his head then pulls in a breath. “Well, knowing that I can see <em>something</em> here, but I think we have to throw out all of the potion information, or at least separate it and focus on the effects you’ve noted before looking at the charm information.” He says, and then looks down at the notes again.</p><p>She doesn’t respond, just nodding her agreement before moving closer to help set the pages out so they can reorganize everything.</p><p>“I have about six questions.” Harry announces as he walks into her tiny office.</p><p>Hermione looks back at him from her filing cabinet, hair pulled up into a half ponytail mostly to get it out of her face a bit. “I’ve time for 2, maybe 3 if they’re quick.” She says, shutting the drawer before her and moving to lean her hip against her desk and cross her arms.</p><p>Harry accepts this, it seems, but she doesn’t care to wonder at why; usually he wheedles a little more when she says things like this.</p><p>“Right, well, I stopped by the shop, you know, see how Ron was doing, and George says your going to make him a new product?” He asks, and Hermione thinks the right answer to this will answer quite a few of Harry’s questions easily and quickly.</p><p>She shakes her head a bit and loosens her stance, not sure where the tension is coming from. “No, I’m looking into a theoretical spell that George probably thinks he could sell, but that I have no intention of teaching him if I manage it.”</p><p>Harry’s eyes lower into a look of suspicion for a second, like he’s trying to figure it out without asking, and then he grins, face lightening a little again. “What would that spell be able to do?” He asks, and Hermione breathes out a sigh through her nose as she rolls her eyes, amused now.</p><p>“Ah, Harry…” She says, and she shifts again, a little embarrassment fueling her actions. “It would be able to lead you to your soulmate.” She says, “if that exists, of course, it’s all highly theoretical to begin with.”</p><p>Harry’s eyebrow raises, and he shakes his head as he breathes out a soft laugh. “Ah, well, best to keep whatever you <em>do</em> find away from George, then.” He says, “but I barely have to warn you about that.”</p><p>“No, no you don’t.” She says, shaking her head as well. “Alright, now shoo, I’ve a lot to do today!” She says, waving her hands at him toward the door.</p><p>“Fine, fine…” He says, raising his hands in surrender before turning to leave.</p><p>She sighs once the door is closed behind him, and settles a little against her desk.</p><p>That night she reviews her notes again, frowning. She has more work to do, obviously, if she wants to get this completed. Her eyes wander the notes and land on the more <em>elegant</em> scribbles along the margins and weaving through the breaks in her points; Draco is, if he’s anything, a very detail-oriented person. His notes are always very unobtrusive, despite the clear difference in their handwriting; his flowing and clearly bred from a long history of quill use and probably lessons while hers was blocky and neat and to the point.</p><p>It is an interesting difference, she thinks, her soft frown lifting into something more amused. She isn’t sure she can figure out exactly if their handwriting says something specific about them as people, but she’s sure it’s <em>interesting.</em></p><p>“Have you finished it yet?” Draco asks, standing outside her too small office, smart enough not to go inside just now what with all of the documents Hermione’s recently decided to stack all over the floor.</p><p>“Finished?” she asks, looking up from the papers on her desk, confusion coloring her voice. Once she’s certain who it is, though, her face clears. “Oh, no, that could take <em>years</em>, Malfoy.”</p><p>Rolling his eyes he takes a step closer like he’s going to walk in before he remembers the state of the room and stops again, arms crossing delicately over his chest. “So you’ve given up, then.”</p><p>A frown crosses her lips, “Now that’s rude, Malfoy.” She says, almost stern, almost reprimanding. She tries not to be reprimanding with him because she thinks he likes it, but sometimes she can’t really help it.</p><p>His eyes get a light in them that she looks down to avoid. “Ah, well, I can’t have people thinking <em>that</em> about me, now can I?” he asks, and she pulls in a breath like she’s about to sigh but he continues. “I know you’ll get it, brightest of our age and all that.”</p><p>Hermione pauses, breath caught a moment despite having heard it a thousand times. “Oh… What do you need, Malfoy?” she says, almost flustered, changing the subject.</p><p>He makes a low sound that she decides to interpret as a <em>snort.</em> “Paperwork for the Darling case?” He says, almost a suggestion.</p><p>Hermione nods and sits back as she waves her hand. “Think your team will win?” She asks as the file floats toward Draco at the door.</p><p>His stance shifts again, making him look like the puffed up and confident prat he usually presents himself as. “Oh, of course Granger.” He says, and his smile is a <em>grin</em> and it is absolutely too much. “Thanks for these.” He says, waving the file toward her before taking his leave.</p><p>She’ll have to put in a little more effort to figure this one out, she thinks as she returns to her filing. This isn’t a failure just yet.</p><p>“So?” Ginny asks, pouring herself a glass of wine like she owns the place.</p><p>“One for me as well.” Hermione says instead of answering her, focus on the pudding she’s working on making; she’s never been much for baking.</p><p>Ginny happily obliges, two full glasses floating over to the table ahead of her. “Alright, I’ll try again then: so? Tell me about the charm!” She says, sitting down, curling one leg beneath her.</p><p>Hermione sighs as she moves to sit across from Ginny, lifting her glass to her lips, the pudding set to finish itself through a series of charms she had been practicing all morning. “Well, it’s, I think I’ve <em>something</em> to show for the work I’ve put in the past few months.” She says, frowning at her glass before taking a sip. “Theoretically it should, ah, <em>point</em> you in the direction of the person you’re most compatible with.” She stops herself from explaining it further because Ginny, while incredibly bright, didn’t really care always.</p><p>Ginny’s watching her with bright eyes, interested. “And? Teach it to me?”</p><p>Hermione wrinkles her nose and takes a deep drink of her wine. “You sure?” She asks, knows the answer even before Ginny starts to enthusiastically nod. “alright, alright.” She says, but really this won’t be near as bad for Ginny as it is for her.</p><p>With a wave of her wand she summons a piece of parchment to land in front of Ginny.</p><p>“Follow the directions there, and just, don’t point your wand at anything specific, yeah?” She says, and Ginny eagerly lifts the parchment to read over it.</p><p>After a couple of moments of silent, mouthed practice, Ginny raises her wand and Hermione steps aside; a habit, a good one from years of school and untested magic and Seamus Finnegan. The spell is a little involved, and it takes Ginny two tries to get it said correctly with the wand movements.</p><p>There’s a flicker of gold and pink dust, a little bit of drama that was unintended but not unwelcome, and then it’s done.</p><p>“Oh, well, that was a bit exciting. Now what?” Ginny asks, looking up at Hermione who had moved over to the counter with her wine. Ginny’s eyes are bright with excitement, maybe a little wonder.</p><p>Hermione likes that, it makes her feel accomplished. “Ah, so <em>now</em> you see where it points you.” She says, taking a sip from her glass and moving back to the table. “It’s not like, it’s not super <em>obvious</em> but it will give you hints, and they show up like the sparkle when you cast the spell. So far as I’ve seen it’s over an object that is in some way related to the person.”</p><p>Ginny considers this as she takes a sip of her wine, thoughtful, still obviously eager. “Sounds like you have to cast it more than once if you want hints.”</p><p>“Unless you guess who it is, yes.” She says, and then grimaces softly, “I haven’t tried it in front of anyone, so can’t say if it will light up the <em>person</em>, as my intention was just to find a spell that would <em>point you</em> in the direction of the right person, not really to give you the person’s name or anything. I’m sure that would take more than the 4 months I’ve put into this.” She shakes her head, “I mean, I don’t even know if it works, you’ll be the first <em>real</em> test, you know?”</p><p>Ginny hums, nodding a bit, before her eyes squint a bit and she gives Hermione a <em>look.</em> “So, what object was your sign?” She asks, and Hermione’s cheeks flush, “oh no, you already know <em>who</em> don’t you?” She asks, sitting up a little straighter.</p><p>“It’s nothing, really, I don’t think I can think on it.” She says, waving it off.</p><p>That night, after Ginny leaves, Hermione goes into her bedroom to undress for bed and stops in front of her closet. There, hanging off the door is a scarf with silver threading woven throughout. It’s pretentious, clearly expensive, and 100% <em>not hers.</em> In fact, it’s Draco Malfoy’s.</p><p>He had been insufferable all week, and then, of course, the library she had ensconced herself in for research that weekend was having issues with their temperature charms.</p><p>She hadn’t found it to be all that cold, she remembers, fingers curling around the soft fabric of the scarf. Her cheeks and nose had been a touch red, though, and she will admit that it hadn’t been anything near <em>warm</em>, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t deal with. Draco, on the other hand, found it utterly deplorable that she wasn’t covering herself up.</p><p>
  <em>“Just look at you, red from the cold.” Draco says, voice snippy like it gets when he’s annoyed by something small and ridiculous.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Or annoyance.” She says, and he cuts her a look that could likely kill.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You aren’t moving around while you sit here and read, you have to keep yourself covered up.” He says, and then he’s gone and Hermione is alone to roll her eyes to herself over his ridiculousness.</em>
</p><p>He had returned 5 minutes later with a scarf that he had shoved into her face with the full expectation that she wear it the whole time they were there.</p><p>She <em>should</em> have given it back to him before she left, but she hadn’t, and now here she is; her silly love charm pointing it out as her <em>clue.</em></p><p>It is, of course, ludicrous; there is no such thing as soulmates. There is no such thing as spells that can truly determine who you are meant to be with.</p><p>Except that she had spent months researching and putting the theory together and she’s relatively certain she did this all with sound logic and sound theory. She is also fairly confident in her own abilities, so the charm itself should be able to provide <em>something.</em></p><p>With a sigh, Hermione steps back from the scarf, hand dropping, and shakes her head to clear it. “This is ridiculous, it’s a charm, nothing more.” She mutters to herself.</p><p>“Well, obviously, the person that <em>you</em> think it refers to would have to perform the charm, see something, and then connect it back to you on their own for you to be 100% certain.” Draco says as he selects the next chip he plans to steal off of Hermione’s plate. He had sat down with them at the Three Broomsticks quite without <em>her</em> permission, and then joined right into the conversation without even a breath to say <em>hello.</em></p><p>The utter brute.</p><p>Ginny, who is still utterly enchanted by the potential of the charm, nods along with him. “That makes sense.” She says, sitting back with her drink, thinking.</p><p>Harry, to Hermione’s bright pleasure, doesn’t quite agree. “Maybe, Malfoy, but then I don’t think Hermione’s intention was for you to force everyone you have a slight interest in to do it.” He looks up at her at that and she nods, even more pleased.</p><p>“No? Then what was your intent, hm?” Draco asks, and she ignores him because he’s clearly teasing her and she hates that he’s so…</p><p>“No, it’s for <em>you.</em>” She says, “It’s meant to give you a sign, something to look at or for or to. And, above all, it’s silly and frivolous and more for fun.”</p><p>She almost believes it, but she’s mentally put a lot of stock in it and the fact that it only seems to have complimented some of her more secret musings…? Well, she won’t admit to that, not quite yet.</p><p>Draco, for his part, seems a little put out by that answer, but Hermione refuses to think on the <em>why</em> of that.</p><p>“And it was a dare.” Ginny adds, grinning a little, and Hermione thinks she’s noticed something that maybe Hermione doesn’t want to think about right now. “Can’t forget <em>that</em> aspect of it, not truly. It adds a bit of flavor.”</p><p>Hermione is warm in the cheeks, she can feel it, and Draco Malfoy is still stealing chips from her plate. This is horrible.</p><p>But, <em>but</em> she didn’t lose this time, not really. Charms take time to perfect, so she can count this as a win. A slim one, but a win nonetheless.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Part 2, finally ^^</p></blockquote></div></div>
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